Billy Berk’s

Went to try Billy Berks for the first time last night and left pretty disappointed with no plans of ever returning.
The place is nice and the service is great but those two stars are only because of these things specifically.
I ordered the rib eye steak ($ 28) which was supposed to come with roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables. I asked our server if I could switch out the steamed vegetables for a side salad. She said she would ask but she didn’t see why they couldn’t do that. When my plate arrived all that I got was a mediocre looking steak and a side salad. When I asked the server where my potatoes were she said they had to substitute out both the potatoes and the seasonal vegetables for the salad. A salad that was mostly romaine lettuce from a bag with a ton of corn and tomatoes that was under a single serving size of vegetables. How does potatoes and vegetables that you have to cook, equal a fair substitution for a kids size salad? Especially when I’m paying $ 28 for the plate?! Like seriously?
The steak was riddled with fat and didn’t have any flavor to it… but definitely tasted like it was cooked on a dirty grill. It was much smaller than I thought it was going to be. To be honest, I could have cooked a better steak at home.
My friend had the Louisiana prawns and rib eye and said the sauce was a bit spicy and the meat wasn’t great as it was full of fat like mine was.
After spending $ 92 on dinner, dessert and one round of drinks, I left disappointed and unsatisfied. I won’t be returning until your prices match the quality of the food… either lower your prices or get better quality food. I could have gotten a better steak dinner at Chili’s, BJ’s, Outback, etc, without spending almost $ 100. I wouldn’t recommend visiting this place when there are plenty of other good, reasonably priced places in the same area.

Okay so this place looks like a casual, affordable establishment to get a burger and beer but no, it is not. Somehow two burgers and two sodas was $ 40+! Service was ok but my burger was NOT worth the money. The people were nice but the prices were outrageous for what I got.

Billy berks is the worse place downtown!
To say the least, the food is outrageously pricy, and awful. Two friends and myself went the other night, and all 3 of us ordered a beer each. We also ordered calamari, the tower, chicken marsela and seared tuna. The bill was $ 170!!! RIDICULOUS!!! We couldn’t believe it! Good thing i didn’t order the fries i wanted that they couldn’t serve cuz they ran out. Can you believe that!!? Who runs out of french fries??! To top it off. The middle-​eastern owner stands by the kitchen door watching EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY! uncomfortable! So now we leave dissatisfied and broke. So i grab a tooth pick out of the container on the host booth at the door. The owner comes to check the toothpicks! I guess to count them to see how many i took! Unbelievable!!! That place is AWFUL!!!

Came here with Boyfriend on New Years Eve and it was really great. It was the perfect combo of casual and trendy. It also wasn’t too crowded which was also a perk. I hate when you can’t even find a seat, but this place had a decent crowd as well as a few empty places to nab.
Ambiance: 4.5÷5
Drinks: ⁴⁄₅ (Had a good selection, but we just had wine)
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Overall Experience: 4.5÷5

We came in as a party of 8 on a Saturday night, and with places like Johnny Rockets simplifyig their menu during the holidays, we were so glad to have dinner at Billy Berk’s. Unbeknownst to us, we were given a tiny, private room that allowed the energetic little girls we had to run amok, since we were celebrating my little sister’s birthday. The room definitely provided a snug and homely ambiance, surrounded by candles and gingerbread houses.
The food was pretty fulfilling. The Spicy Louisiana Prawns and the Chicken Marsala are two interesting choices to pursue. If you can’t handle the heat, beware the prawns. But otherwise, fulling in and of itself.
But Billy Berks’ most redeeming factor was not the food, but the service. Multiple people were always checking in to make sure we had enough water, soda, iced tea, and our food was served quickly and consistently. Our main server Olivia made our dinner go smoothly. She was bright and friendly, and interacted with the girls at all times. She was constantly helping us out with everything and when one of our guests had to leave soon, she even pushed for our dessert to come out faster. I can’t express enough how grateful I am to have her as our server because she made our whole experience worthwhile. Kudos to her for being one of the best servers I’ve ever had.
Spectacular service coupled with satisfying food means I’ll be back, Billy Berk’s.

First time here! This place is good! I ordered the Rustic Pan Seared Salmon. It came with potatoes and vegetables, perfect for a light lunch. Also, some good appetizer I ordered were the Spicy Ahi Tuna Tower, Wonton Chips and Calamari Lemons and Jalapeños! Good place for a lunch party. Yummmm

I’d recommend Billy Berk’s a great place to throw an event.
Maryam was a pleasure to work w/​. We communicated via phone but mainly via emails. She was patient w/​us because I didn’t have the total headcount yet. Due to my new side business, meeting her to discuss what we want, and to finalize what goes on the menu wasn’t easy to schedule around but she accommodated me and I do appreciate that sincerely.
On the day of, I walked in pretty dressed up but inside, I wasn’t feeling too well. Maryam saw it in me that I was feeling ill and kept asking me if I needed anything. By this point, Maryam wasn’t just doing her job but she was super caring and genuine about my health and well-​being. I can’t say that about many people, unfortunately.
More than 40% of the folks that RSVP’d came late. Instead of just serving the food (buffet-​style) at my proposed time, she came and asked me if the food should be delayed because only a handful of us were there. By delaying the food, we kept the food fresh and hot and the guests wanting more.
I remember adding Chicken Cobb but there wasn’t any left when I was able to eat. I ordered this for dinner, the night we were supposed to finalize what goes on the menu and I liked the salad so much that I had to add it even though it meant more on the bill. I also added the Chocolate Fondant Cake to the dessert selection. Once I had it that night… after my first bite. I knew that it had to be added to the event as well. My HR Manager said that it was one of the best chocolate cakes he’s ever had.
What I had that night before I wanted to leave because I was hurting:
+ buffalo chicken wings | succulent
+ cheesy, garlic, and roasted tomato flatbread | tasty
+ hand smashed guacamole and chips | creamy
+ vegetarian spring rolls | delicious. these were gone quick
+ braised lamb shanks | fell off the bone tender
+ chicken marasala | tender and flavorful
It seemed that I ate a lot but I barely did.
Parking was waived for the 1^st 3 hours. That’s quite generous.
Everyone had a great time and I remember my GM thanking me for opening him up to new things to eat and different restaurants to try. I cannot wait to come back here for dinner on a night that I don’t have 10 things going on and when I feel better.
Thank you to the entire staff at Billy Berk’s for such a great experience.

For my first time there and first experience, i had a good time. The food was delicious! Ordered the salmon with spicy mustard and ribeye both SOO GOOD! I also had some drinks that were tasty and the service was great. Ordered some chocolate covered ice cream to finish off and no complaints there. I was pretty surprised how good the food was along with everything else. I have plans to go tonight and looking forward to exploring the menu by trying something new. Cant wait! EVERYTHING was very yummy and pleasant!

I have now attended Paint Nite twice at Billy Berk’s. Not only do they provide an ideal host location, their Happy Hour is the BEST in the area. The appetizers here are to die for. I STRONLGY recommend their flatbread pizza’s — especially the one with bacon and carmelized onions. The onion strings are also great.
The owners here are always on the floor and talking with patrons. I also appreciate how positive they are in the way I have seen them interact with their staff. This provides an overall great experience.

I went for lunch on a week day with people from work and visitors from other States. The place is really nice, the waitress had a great service attitude and the food was really good. The time that we wait for the food was average. There are great options to have a cool lunch close to the office.
I’ll definitely be back!

Good place. Service was good. There is a lot of variety on the menu. Food was good too.
Casual atmosphere. An easy walk if you are staying near the convention center.
I thought the prices were excellent. No complaints here. I would definitely go again.

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This restaurant has a really nice interior. The food looked promising, but ended up being pretty bland all around. We should’ve stuck to something simpler, more straightforward and much cheaper, since we were a group with kids. But I needed a cocktail, so this is where we ended up (bad mom!).
What’s up? Are there some sort of control issues in this restaurant where only one person can approve dishes to be sent out? Is that why service was so slow? The servers were nice enough to keep letting us know our dishes would be out eventually. A few scoops of ice cream ordered for dessert added at least about another 15 minutes to our total time here.
Wouldn’t recommend this restaurant, which is too bad, because it looked like it had pretty good potential.

UPDATE: Now I get the excuse listed below by that guy. So she took the time to walk up to me (refusing to shake my hand mind you) without allowing me to utter 3 words because she didn’t have time? What? Besides… NO ONE is that busy. And in fact your excuse below is a complete insult as I’ve worked in the restaurant industry in multiple management positions. Make all the excuses you want instead of apologizing for the real issue. Being rude to a potential guest is just absolutely uncalled for regardless of how busy you perceive yourself to be.
Worst customer service ever. Manager is completely dismissive. I went in to see about hosting an event for my mobile app that is launching which would bring in a ton of revenue to the restaurant and before I could speak one sentence to the manager she tells me «I’m sorry I am very busy and don’t have time for this.» It was 4 in the afternoon on a Tuesday with 4 tables in the restaurant. She probably thought I was selling something and just shoved me off. Well lady you just lost at least $ 1,500 in revenue.

Went here for after work drinks with a co worker. We had 4 different drinks and let me tell you they were delicious !!! And the bartender was really friendly and attentive. The x rated martini was by far my favorite !!! Also had appetizers se
Wings and fries and they were cooked
Perfectly

I really have no complaints about this place. Came during happy hour on a Saturday, pretty dead. The bartender was super friendly! Gave us a great deal
On the drinks. We ordered
Some appetizers, the fried zucchini was the best I have had! Yum. The bacon flatbread was pretty decent. Overall, I would definitely come back again for happy hour. Maybe even sit outside this time. They have a great back patio!

Beautiful dinner, very kind waiters
One place which I’ll come back for sure.
It’s just miss a good expresso on the end.

I can only comment on the little time I spent there but we went on a Saturday night just to stop by for a drink. Places were packed in downtown San Jose with some convention in town and we wanted somewhere quieter. This place had only a few people sitting at some tables and looked nice so we went in.
We sat at the bar and ordered two beers. «You guys want to make those talls instead of regular?» the bartender asks. Why not tall, its a holiday weekend. So we pay $ 15 for our two IPAs.
Ten minutes later as we are sipping our beers, the bartender comes up to us. «Just so you know we are closing in 5 minutes.» We assume (like most restaurants) this is a last call time of thing (it wasn’t even 11 pm on Saturday) so we say were okay and keep sipping and chatting. Five minutes later. «Time to go guys.» Music turned off. Lights getting turned off. We look at him with our half full beers.
Really? The normal thing to do would have been to say something like «Welcome to Billy Berk’s guys. Just so you know we are closing in about 15 minutes.» You know, so we could have planned accordingly. And not boughten huge beers (which are not chugging beers even if I did want to do that, which I didn’t). So we left with our beer glasses half full. No thank you for coming have a good night. The second we were out someone was right behind us locking the door and the lights went out.
Another alternative (like at most restaurants) is the place closes, but they still allow their patrons to finish! And we weren’t eating food so I can’t imagine it would be that horrible. Also, it was a Saturday night. A convention in town. This place has some prime real-​estate. Why would they close BEFORE 11 PM?! For the record, I checked and saw that the website and Unilocal list its Saturday closing hour as midnight. Whatever.
So the place looked nice, was clean, calm relaxed atmosphere. It seemed like a great bar/​restaurant. However, if this is any indication of how they value their customers I would never come back. I HATE bad customer service but this was just silly.

I really wish I could give this place a 3.5, but I can’t. So it comes down to being a bit on the mean side, or do I give it a pass and knock it up to four? Seeing as how it’s Valentine’s Day, I’ll be a bit more on the nice side of things and give it a bump up to four.
We were in Downtown San Jose for a pre Valentine dinner. It was surprising how dead downtown was, but I’m guessing everyone was saving their money to go all out tonight for the real deal. We had a few choices, but we decided to give this place a shot as the décor and ambiance seemed rather nice.
This place is pretty basic. It felt like a Chili’s or T.G.I Friday’s, but with a little more class. They do have a happy hour before 7, so that will knock off a few dollars off your bill. Still the food was pretty basic. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still good, but I’ve paid for much better meals with a cheaper price tag.
The server while nice, seemed to be more on the confused side when I asked if they served pisco sours and other drinks I rattled off. Still she was nice and tried her best, so I really don’t want to knock any stars off for that.
It’s a pretty basic place. I probably won’t come here again, unless it for any event that I have no hand in coordinating. There are many better alternates in downtown San Jose.

I hardly write bad reviews, especially for restaurants in downtown San Jose, because I really want you all to succeed. So i gave it two stars because the place is really isnt that bad when it comes to food and for a casual drink or two.
First time I went there, I was there for happy hours and was a good place to catch up with a bud.
Two other times I went for large group event and this is where the restaurant really needs to fix itself. Both time our groups were in the back patio, first time we had a fixed menu and the food came out for the party to share. The food was pretty good, but the services was slow as heck. Average wait time for a drink was 20 minutes and it took forever to close out a tab.
Second time we had a group about 15 people, we ordered off the menu, but because people were coming and going, we wanted to order from the bar, but the manager said we had to order from the server. From my previous experience, I knew this was a mistake as it would be quicker and easier to close out a tab at the bar. But everytime we tried to get a drink at the bar, the manger would not let us and promised that the wait staff would be quick. 25 minutes later, no drinks and no food. Closing out tabs were horrible because as usual we dont carry cash and they didnt want to split the check.
The wait staff apology and said it was a policy, and we sympathize with them because we knew it was out of their hand. End of the night, everyone was frustrated and rather than spend our money at the restaurant we left sober and went to Dive bar.
I am not sure if the policy of not letting us to go the bar to quickly get drinks and close tab was to ensure our wait staff got tipped properly or so we wouldn’t ruin the ambiance of the restaurant (which was only a quarter full) but it was a horrible way of serving a large party.
People in large groups like to socialize and when we are at the bar for a celebration, we are more likely to buy drinks for ourselves and friends. Waiting 20 to 30 minutes for your drink arrives really ruins the mood. Half the people have not gone to the restaurant before and believe me most of the people left with a bad impression. With the growing number of new places eat to and drink in downtown, I am not sure if Billy will earn our group’s business again. Word of mouth goes a long way in the restaurant business.
Message me if you ever re-​vamp your policy, otherwise good luck.

Came here as my bf had a groupon to spend. We both haven’t been here before. We both shared the fried zucchini as an appetizer. After reading some reviews I opted to try the Mojito Skirt Steak Sliders and my bf got the baby back ribs with the mushroom medley.
Some issues we had during our meal:
1) We were given the wrong sauces for our zucchini appetizer. They gave us the sauces for the calamari.
2) The actual appetizer was not so good. The zucchinis were huge slices and they were soggy and wet.
3) My sliders… I wouldn’t get again. The steak itself was fine but they were in the stalest buns. Completely over whelming.
4) The ribs we were imagine a long rack it was a weird stack of ribs. And they ribs had a very strong ketchup taste. I love me some ketchup but damn the sauce just did not cut it.
5) We asked for it to be with the mushroom medley but they originally sent out mashed potatoes.
It’s just, there were some mishaps with service, the food was below par and higher on the price range it deserves. I don’t think I would really care to ever return here. I would probably give this experience more of a 1.5 star (but I save my 1 stars for the absolute worse) so 2 it is as the food was at least… edible.